Artstor provides more than half a million images documenting architecture and the built environment across the world, including monuments, buildings, drawings, models, and plans. Its collections encompass ancient architecture all the way to present-day buildings by today’s most acclaimed architects.
Here are six examples that illustrate how the images in Artstor can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of architecture and architectural history, along with two case studies, one by a then-doctoral candidate at Stanford University and another by a fine art faculty member at Berkeley City College.
Rem Koolhaas and the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture
Koolhaas’ iconoclasm was evident from the very beginning of his career: His final project at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London was a series of drawings, watercolors, and collages depicting a post-apocalyptic dystopia.
Rem Koolhaas, Madelon Vriesendorp, Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis. Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, 1972. The Museum of Modern Art, Architecture and Design Collection
Rem Koolhaas, Madelon Vriesendorp, Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis. Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, 1972. The Museum of Modern Art, Architecture and Design Collection.
Rem Koolhaas, Zoe Zenghelis, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp, Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture Prologue, 1972. The Museum of Modern Art, Architecture and Design Collection.
Contemporary architecture in the United Arab Emirates
A rallying economy led the United Arab Emirates cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai through a building boom that transformed sand dunes into futuristic cityscapes boasting projects that significantly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.
Sheik Zayed Road (view of the traffic and metro station exterior), Dubai. Image and original data provided by Art on File.
Yas Hotel & Marina (Asymptote Architecture), Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Image and original data provided by Art on File.
Capital Gate (RMJM Architects), Abu Dhabi. Image and original data provided by Art on File.
Cross-cultural cross-sections: Student curators on architectural collections
To celebrate the completion of a collection of 20,000 architectural plans, sections, and related materials, Artstor spoke with some of the co-curators who helped compile a selection that reflects the most important modernist architectural works of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Charlotte Perriand, La Maison du jeune homme, Brussels, Belgium, 1935, © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris, Data source: Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University and Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Tadao Ando, Hyogo Children’s Museum, Himeji, Hyogo, Japan, 1990, Data source: Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University and Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
On the beauty and variety of cave temples: an interview with David Efurd
Professor David Efurd talks to us about the variety and complexity of the rock-cut cave temples he photographed for a collection in Artstor of nearly 10,000 images of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain art and architecture.
Ajanta Caves; Cave 26 late 5th century; Image: 2003; Maharashtra, India. Image and original data provided by David Efurd © David Efurd
Bedsa Caves; Cave 7; 1st c. CE; Image: 2003; Maharashtra, India. Image and original data provided by David Efurd © David Efurd
Ankai Tankai Caves; Cave 1; 12th century; Image: 2003; Maharashtra, India. Image and original data provided by David Efurd © David Efurd
Destruction in Palmyra, Syria
In 2015, the militant group ISIS destroyed the ancient Temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, Syria, one of the most important archaeological sites in the region. Ruins may be destroyed, but history cannot be erased; scholars from around the world have created extensive documentation of the sites of Palmyra that are available in Artstor.
Palmyra; theatre exterior from south. Date of photograph: 1977. Image and original data provided by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom.
Palmyra; Tetrapylon exterior, procession relief. Date of photograph: 1977. Image and original data provided by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom.
Sending stone soaring to the heavens: the photography of Via Lucis
Artstor invited photographer Dennis Aubrey to share a history of an ongoing collaboration to document and explore the great Romanesque and Gothic churches of France and Spain.
Eglise Abbatiale Saint Vigor; Chevet and crossing tower, ca. 1032-1072. Cerisy-la-Forêt, Manche, Franc. Photographer © Dennis Aubrey, Via Lucis Photography
Basilique Sainte Madeleine; Capital – The Duel, early 11th century. Vézelay, Yonne, France Photographer © Dennis Aubrey, Via Lucis Photography
Eglise Saint Pierre; Notre-Dame-de-la-Volta, 11th century. Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. Photographer © Dennis Aubrey, Via Lucis Photography
Case studies
The Great Mosque of Djenné and West African architecture
Mrs. Michelle Apotsos, Doctoral candidate Art History/Architectural History, Stanford University
Using images from Artstor, Apotsos presents a case study of the Djenné mosque in Mali, West Africa as an example of an architectural tradition that utilizes distinctive structures, materials, and iconographies to resonate with its cultural context.
Barbara Anello, Ait Ben Haddou, Morocco. Image and original data provided by Barbara Anello. Photographs © Barbara J. Anello
James Conlon, The Great Mosque of Djenne, South façade, exterior. Image: 2008, Djenne, Mali.
Online teaching and architectural solutions to climate problems in the Islamic world
Colette Apelian, Fine Art faculty, Berkeley City College
As the Islamic art historian in her art department, Apelian explains how North African to South Asian art and architecture are relevant to design students less familiar with pre-modern and non-western material cultures.
Alhambra Palace (Partal Gardens), Granada, Spain, Main construction 14th century. Image and original data provided by Shmuel Magal, Sites and Photos
‘Alawi Abu Bakr al-Kaf, Dar al-Salam, Exterior, Image: 2005. Tarim, the Hadramaut Valley, Yemen. James Conlon: Mali and Yemen Sites and Architecture